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Coulomb Technologies Introduces New Open Billing System for ChargePoint Networked Plug-in Charging Stations; No Subscription Required

Coulomb Technologies has introduced a new, open Flex Billing system; beginning in July, users of ChargePoint Networked Charging Stations will no longer need a subscription to the ChargePoint Network. Owners of the charging stations (Hosts), including utilities, retailers, municipalities and corporations can determine the price that drivers pay to use their stations, if any.

The Flex Billing system provides the tools for Hosts to set pricing at individual charging stations while Coulomb provides turnkey services to collect, process and forward payments from drivers directly to Hosts. Additionally, Coulomb is introducing its new ChargePass smart cards that gives EV owners the ability to fuel up at any ChargePoint Networked Charging Station and receive payment discounts and other benefits.

This shift is a direct result of the feedback from our customer base which dates back to 2008. Flexibility is extremely important to our station owners, whether access to a charging station is controlled and billed based upon time, kilowatt hours, or is completely free. Through our networking software technology, we’ve added the Flex Billing system to our Application Service Suite, allowing station owners to set their own pricing.

—Richard Lowenthal, CEO of Coulomb Technologies

The Flex Billing system enables station owners to set pricing as a function of time of day, calendar date, and driver. For example, a city with public ChargePoint stations can require drivers to pay one price per hour for access during the hours of 9:00 am to 4:00 pm and a second price “after hours.” Those same stations can also be configured to provide “free” access to that city’s EV fleet vehicles 24/7. Electric Utilities who own stations can now bill their customers by kilowatt hour and time of use. In addition, corporations who own charging stations can offer their employees free parking but may opt to require visitors of their facilities to pay for charging at their stations.

The Flex Billing system features include:

  • Coulomb no longer requires subscriptions and no longer charges drivers for system use.
  • Station owners set charging prices.
  • Coulomb provides billing services to station owners.
  • A 24-hour toll free number enables drivers to use major credit cards, and get help when they need it.
  • The use of all major contactless credit cards directly at stations.
  • The ability to use Coulomb’s own ChargePass smart card.

We are pleased to see Coulomb adopting an open system and moving away from subscriptions. From our research we concluded that utilities and other charging station owners generally don’t want a third party between them and the customer. An open system is in the best interest of station owners, utilities, and drivers.

—Dr. Mark Duvall, Director of Electric Transportation at the Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. (EPRI)

ChargePass Smart Card. Coulomb’s new ChargePass smart card is modeled after bridge toll systems. Each time a driver uses a ChargePass card, the Flex Billing system automatically deducts the EV fueling fee from their current account balance and sends that money to the station owner. When the balance gets below a predetermined limit, the account is “re-filled” automatically. Drivers using the ChargePass cards can get discounts, and the ChargePass card can be private labeled for use in loyalty programs.

Comments

Henry Gibson

Pay phones are now underused. Put coins in them to build up an account and just dial a number for your kilowatt hours. Even fifty years ago in Europe you could call anywhere in the world with a coin counting phone. Sorry folks; ordinary plugs; just dial a number on the cell phone to turn it on over the internet. Text messages now cost more than twenty miles of electricity because of extortion by phone companies. A half a million bytes of text can be sent every minute by the same bandwidth needed for a call. ..HG..

sheckyvegas

Uhh, Brief? What the hell are you talking about? Pay phones? Fifty years ago in Europe? Twenty miles of electricity? Good Lord, man, either raise or lower your medication, but for God's sake take a close look at your rambling before you send it out.

sheckyvegas

Sorry, gang, I meant that for Henry, not Brief. Maybe I should look at MY medication...

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